blackbird

Try to find a counsellor. You need help.

Yes. It all boils down to faith and how one looks at the creation. When I look at the beauty in nature for example, I see the hand of God. I don't say, oh it all just happened out of the blue by itself. I think these flowers or creatures are so amazing, they could not have just happened without a designer-Creator. The universe is absolutely amazing and the strongest evidence that God is behind it all. The other question, why are we here in the first place? That is a little more difficult to answer apart from the Bible. I would say that the best answer is in the Bible. God created man in his own image according to the Bible. Therefore man is a special creation of God. Man is not the same as an animal. Man is special in God's eyes. That is an amazing thought. So why did God create in his image and why would God give man such powers of reasoning that the other creatures do not have? Well, God created man to have a special relationship with the Creator God. He gave man and soul and a spirit and gave man the Holy Scriptures which describe how man can live forever with God. But there is a basic, simple requirement placed on man for that. That is faith in God's Son, Jesus Christ. That is profound. You must be a deep thinker....

quote How I Know Christianity is True Article contributed by Probe Ministries Visit Probe's website Probe's Patrick Zukeran offers 5 lines of evidence that Christianity is true: Christianity teaches the correct worldview, the Bible is God's Word, Jesus confirmed His claims, Christ's resurrection, and personal experience. Because Christianity Teaches the Correct Worldview Among all the religions and philosophies, how do we know Christianity is true? While there are many ways to address the question, let's begin by saying that Christianity makes sense of the world around us. In other words, it presents the most correct worldview based on the world in which we live. There are three worldviews that lie at the foundation of all religions and philosophies: theism, naturalism, and pantheism. Theism teaches there is a personal God who created the universe. Naturalism teaches there is no divine being and that the universe is the result of time and chance. Pantheism teaches that the universe is eternal and that the divine is an impersonal force made up of all things. All three worldviews cannot be true at the same time and if one of them is true, the other two must be false. The evidence from our study of the universe points to theism. Unfortunately, time will allow me to go over only three lines of evidence. The first is the argument from first cause or the cosmological argument, which states if something exists, it must have either come from something else, come from nothing, or have always existed. What is the most reasonable conclusion of the three for the existence of the universe? Scientists confirm that the universe has a beginning. Many call this the "big bang." Since the universe assuredly has a beginning, the worldview of pantheism bears the burden of proof. Second, to say the universe comes from nothing goes against responsible scientific inquiry and human logic. For example, any invention in human history is not brought about from nothing. It comes from materials and ingenuity that existed before its inception. Therefore, the naturalist worldview has no logical ground to stand on. The best conclusion is that the universe is the result of a cause greater than itself. That cause is God. unquote For the full article go to: How I Know Christianity is True | Bible.org

I am not going to get into that fruitless debate about the war in Israel. I don't have all the answers and it would be pointless to try. Your assumption about God is nonsensical. It shows you don't understand who God is at all. All I can tell you is what I believe the Bible says about God. One must accept a certain basic understanding about God. That does not mean it will explain all the conflicts in the world. There are many things we do not understand the reasons for and we must trust that God is in control and knows things that we will never know in this world. We do know that mankind fell from a perfect relationship with God when he rebelled against God in the garden of Eden. Since then the world became a corrupt place with all kinds of evil. Man is a fallen, evil being by nature since the fall. But God in his mercy decided to send His Son Jesus Christ into the world to die on a cross for the sins of mankind. God is first of all omnipotent. That means he is all powerful. God is omniscient. That means he knows everything from the beginning to the end. God is omnipresent. That means God is present everywhere. God is a spirit, not a part of the material universe. God is all merciful and loving. God is completely just. Here is an important point. God is personally knowable. But he is knowable only through His Son, Jesus Christ. One can and must know His Son and then he will know God. That is how God can be personally known and one can be known by God. It is a personal relationship. This is where other religions fail.

If I was not confident and sure about what the Bible says, then of course I would not know which religion was the true religion. You statement is odd because you are criticizing someone for being sure about what they believe. It would seem to me that anyone who holds strongly to a certain religion or any belief must be confident about what they believe. Otherwise why would they believe it or defend what they believe? As to how I would know if another religion is false, the answer is in the Bible. Two contradictory claims or belief systems cannot both be true. Either one is false or both are false, depending what the religion or belief system is. This is hard to explain to someone who has no idea what the Bible is all about. You could Google and ask the question as to what is the Bible about or ask for a summary of the Bible. Something like that. You might find some answers. Surprisingly even in churches that I have attended there are people who are deceived about some things or know little about some important related topics. I don't know a lot myself, but I have been fortunate to be able receive and learn about some things. I attended one particular church for a couple years where I heard some excellent preaching. One must make an effort to find the information. It doesn't come delivered to a person on a platter. There is also a website called sermon audio which has literally thousands of sermons by countless different ministers. They have an index of topics with hundreds of topics. You can find sermons on almost anything you can think of. I am not saying all sermons are good or even correct. That is something each person has to determine. That is where the Bible comes in. There has to be some reference point for truth in the world. The final authority is the Bible, in English, the King James Bible. Without that, what authority is there for truth? There is no other reference point.

Yes, thank you for confirming my confidence in what I believe. I am confident because I have studied many things in the Bible, heard lots of excellent sermons on subjects in the Bible, and studied the subject of the different versions and where the Bible came from. I thank God for all of this. Everything I believe is due to God giving me the faith. I feel sorry for the obvious mess of false beliefs you seem to hold. I could help you get out of it, but what you do and what you believe is up to you. You have to make the decision about that. I have enough experience dealing with people on the forums to know it is a waste of time trying to debate with someone who has a closed mind. The evidence is there that the Bible was written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Life is a struggle for many people. Perhaps that has something to do with you ideas too. I don't know what gives you the ideas you hold.

No, you have it all wrong. All men are lost sinners and must repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved. Hell is for eternity. Which way are you going, heaven or hell? Listen to this message. Your choice. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

And hell is for eternity. Where are you going? Listen to this message. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

I am in no position to judge a war which was started by Hamas, a terrorist organization, who killed 1,200 innocent civilians and took another 250 hostage, many of whom have been killed. They hide behind the civilians. They did not surrender and do not seem willing to surrender. How else could Israel defend itself and prevent terrorists from continuing to attack them? Do you have the answer?

If you are serious, maybe do some research yourself and find the answer. It doesn't sound like you would believe any answer I would find for you. Yes, there are many false religions in the world. If you don't know anything about what the Bible says, you are really just shouting in the wind without any knowledge about the subject. What gives you the expertise to be a judge of God's written revelation, the Bible? What do you have to offer to explain why man is on the earth? Because God said those that bless the Jews, he will bless; those that curse the Jews, ....well you can fill in the blank.

I was speaking to your anti-Semitism and anti-Israel attitude and the garbage you posted re the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The war in Israel is another subject which has nothing to do with the garbage you posted. You said you will refuse to accept the facts. I gave you the information: " The text was exposed as fraudulent by the British newspaper The Times in 1921 and by the German newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung in 1924. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion You claim you prefer to believe an Arab woman who spread anti-Israel trash. No surprise there. There have been millions of anti-Semites in the world. Who would be surprised.

No, I just quoted what Wikipedia says. "The text was exposed as fraudulent by the British newspaper The Times in 1921 and by the German newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung in 1924." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion

Yes, there were some Catholics that were persecuted and executed in the Reformation in the UK, but this was a miniscule number compared with the number of victims of the Holy Roman Inquisition that lasted for reportedly six hundred years in different countries in Europe. I am not aware of Catholics being tortured by Protestants. The people that were tortured in the Inquisition were the "heretics" that refused to bow to Rome. This is one of the tools of the Inquisition: " One end of the fork pressed under the chin, while the other pierced the chest, forcing the victim to hold their head upright. If they moved or nodded off, the prongs would stab into their flesh. This device was designed to inflict prolonged discomfort, rather than immediate death, instilling fear and control over the accused...."

With all due respect, It matters not what secular humanism believes or tells you. What matters is what God says in his written revelation, the Holy Bible. In English, that is the King James Bible, which is based on the Received Text. The Received Text is in agreement with the majority of copies of manuscripts handed down through the early church. We know there are many false religions or belief systems in the world. So how does one determine which belief is correct? The answer is God's revelation, the Bible. Not by fallible humans such as Popes, church councils, tradition, or people who claim they had some mystical experience and received a message from God which contradicts what has been believed and accepted in Holy Scripture. There has to be a way to separate what is true from what is false. That way is through the study of Holy Scripture and faith in God's inerrant, preserved written revelation. "20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. " Isaiah 8:20 KJV "1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:1-4 KJV The apostle Paul warned the Colossians against philosophies, empty deceit, and traditions of men in Colossains 2:8-23 KJV. "8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. {rudiments: or, elements} {make a prey: or, seduce you, or, lead you astray} 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. " Here is a 1 hr 5 min audio message on this warning against philosophy, empty deceit, and traditions of men. Bing Videos

Yes, I know Luther became anti-Semitic. Much of Europe was anti-Semitic for 1,500 years. Yes, Catholics were persecuted in England in the 1500s in the Reformation there and apparently a significant number lost their lives and property. However, this pales in comparison to the six hundred years of the Inquisition run by Rome in a number of countries in Europe. Don't forget Rome was the dominant religion and ruled with an iron fist for over a thousand years in Europe. There were also some genocides against religious groups who refused to bow to Rome, such as the Huguenots in France.

Conservatives are not the government and don't run the bureaucracy and are not in a position to control how government spends money.

A report says 80,000 people were homeless in Ontario on 2024.

The Jews owned that land over 3,000 years ago and it is their land. They occupied the land for over a thousand years. They were driven off the land over the centuries by invaders. They took back what was their land in the 20th century. You need to do some studying.

Isn't it ironic to see such a magnificent structure and think what went on around it in Europe during the centuries after it was constructed? quote A Chapter of the Manual is headed “of the torture” and contains these small reflections: “The torture is not an infallible method to obtain the truth; there are some men so pusillanimous that at the first twinge of pain they will confess crimes they never committed; others there are so valiant and robust that they bear the most cruel torments. Those who have once been placed upon the rack suffer it with great courage, because their limbs accommodate themselves to it with facility or resist with force; others with charms and spells render themselves insensible, and will die before they will confess anything.” The author gives further directions: “When sentence of torture has been given, and while the executioner is preparing to apply it, the inquisitor and the grave persons who assist him should make fresh attempts to persuade the accused to confess the truth; the executioners and their assistants, while stripping him, should affect uneasiness, haste, and sadness, endeavoring thus to instill fear into his mind; and when he is stripped naked the inquisitors should take him aside, exhorting him to confess, and promising him his life upon condition of his doing so, provided that he is not a relapsed (one dilated a second time), because in such a case they cannot promise him that.” The Horrors of the Church and Its Holy Inquisition

Yes, of course they are beautiful, but one needs to know the truth about the history of the Roman Church and what it has done to millions of people down through the centuries. All these beautiful cathedrals and artwork mask the dark history of the "Holy Roman church". Perhaps do some reading about some of these things: The Roman Inquisition which was developed by the same people that built these cathedrals, monuments, and paintings. The Medieval Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition. The 1,500 years of persecution of the Jews. The non-action by the papacy during the Holocaust in WW2. Aiding the escape of Nazi war criminals after WW2. The genocide of the Huegenots in France. The genocide in Ireland. The beautiful edifices paint a picture of a magnificent church, but the history tells a different story. " “Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with Church dogma must be burned without pity.” – Pope Innocent III The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court and process of the Roman Catholic Church setup for the purpose towards the discovery and punishment of heresy which wielded immense power and brutality in medieval and early modern times. The Inquisitions function was principally assembled to repress all heretics of rights, depriving them of their estate and assets which became subject to the ownership of the Catholic treasury, with each relentlessly sought to destroy anyone who spoke, or even thought differently to the Catholic Church. This system for close to over six centuries became the legal framework throughout most of Europe that orchestrated one of the most confound religious orders in the course of mankind." The Horrors of the Church and Its Holy Inquisition

That's not exactly how it is. God chose Israel for a special purpose, that is, to bring the Holy Scriptures to mankind and ultimately the Savior, Jesus Christ. Mocking God and the Jews is a huge mistake, which can have dire consequences. Since you have not even read or studied the Bible and therefore know nothing about it, you are talking total nonsense.

Actually if you read what I posted, it was not entirely the Bible. It was an article with a brief history of Israel, although I did mention some Bible facts. The Bible is an accurate record of the history of the Jews and where they came from. The Old Testament was written by many different Old Testament prophets over a period of a thousand years. I think I would believe them before I believe some quack saying they came from Europe. The dumbest of the dumb don't say that. Even non-Bible believers know Jews didn't come from Europe. If you want to dispute it and believe some far out kook saying the Jews originally came from Europe, that is your choice. Everyone has the choice of being a bit learned or being a dumb kook. One in a ten million would believe that. I can't believe anyone would actually believe the Jews originally came from Europe. It would be funny if it wasn't so crazy.

Do you ever do any reading or look up a few articles about these things before swallowing the garbage hook, line, and sinker. Even fish are smarter than that. " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion[b][c] is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the 20th century. It played a key part in popularizing belief in an international Jewish conspiracy. The text was exposed as fraudulent by the British newspaper The Times in 1921 and by the German newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung in 1924. Beginning in 1933, distillations of the work were assigned by some German teachers, as if they were factual, to be read by German schoolchildren throughout Nazi Germany.[1] It remains widely available in numerous languages, in print and on the Internet, and continues to be presented by antisemitic groups as a genuine document. It has been described as "probably the most influential work of antisemitism ever written".[2]" The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - Wikipedia

Oh brother! That is total nonsense. The Jews came from and were descendants of Abraham in the area of Israel 3,800 years ago. That is where the twelve tribes of Israel began, which are the Jewish people. The Romans took over Israel over 2,000 years ago and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and scattered the Jews to the rest of the world. They continued to maintain their Judaism in various other countries of the world after the dispersions. They are the only people in the world that maintained their original common community with each other over such a long period of time even though they were scattered around the world. Various attempts have been made to destroy them as a Jewish people through persecution, genocide, expulsion, and conversion over the centuries. Read the book of Genesis and other books in the Bible which give the history of the Jews. I can't give it all here. It is up to you do a little reading and research. The Jew stems from Judaism, a religion. In the beginning of Judaism, God called Abram to be the father of the Jewish nation. That is when it began. From Abraham's descendants came the twelve tribes of Israel. God gave them the promised land of Israel. The first five books of the Bible are an account of how that all began and how they came to the promised land. This began over three thousand years ago. Here is an account I just randomly searched and found. I cannot vouch for it's accuracy. But it is one place to start. The King James Bible would be an accurate account. But this website gives a rough account in a summary. " Question: How did Judaism start? Answer: The following is a brief overview of the history of Judaism: ABRAHAM: FATHER OF MONOTHEISM: Abraham was born in 1812 BCE in the city of Ur in Ancient Mesopotamia. According to Jewish tradition, he spent the first 40 years of his life questioning the polytheistic ideas of the surrounding culture, eventually coming to the conclusion that all of existence comes from a single source – a primal infinite Being that we call God. Once he was confident in the truth of his theory, he began to publicize his ideas through writing, teaching and public debates, and eventually built a movement of tens of thousands of people committed to a belief in one Creator and the philosophical principles which are an outgrowth of that belief. G-d then appears to Abraham for the first time and tells him that his biological descendants will eventually grow into a nation which will live by the philosophical principles that he had developed and will be given the Land of Canaan as a national homeland (Genesis 12:1). FROM FAMILY TO NATION: 500 years: THE WOMB OF EGYPT AND THE COVENANT AT MOUNT SINAI Abraham passes on his philosophical system to his son, Isaac, who in turn passes it on to his son Jacob (also called Israel – see Genesis 35:10), who then hands it over to his twelve sons (the families founded by these twelve individuals eventually grew into the twelve tribes of Israel). A famine occurs in the Land of Canaan in 1522 BCE, forcing Israel and his 70 member family down to Egypt (Genesis 46:8), where after 210 years (94 of them as slaves), they grow into a People of approximately 3 million, retaining their separate philosophical, cultural and linguistic identity as Hebrews. They are led out of Egypt by Moses the Prophet in 1312 BCE, and about 50 days later, find themselves awestruck at the foot of Mt Sinai, where God reveals Himself to the Nation as a whole, and proclaims the 10 Commandments. God seals a covenant with the Israelites, whereby they commit themselves (and their descendants) to follow the path of life which God will reveal for them (a path that would incorporate the philosophical system developed by Abraham). Moses then ascends Mt Sinai alone, and God teaches him all the details of that path. The enormous body of legal and moral principles revealed to Moses form the content of what is called “TORAH” – the term incorporating the Five Books of Moses as well as the Oral tradition found in the Mishna and Talmud (36 volumes). A NATIONAL HOMELAND: 1200 YEARS In 1272 BCE, after 40 years of traveling in the Sinai Desert, the Israelite Army, led by Joshua, conquers the Land of Canaan and inaugurates a period of over 1200 years of National experience in the Land of Israel, focused around the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem which existed for approximately 800 of those years (combining the 1st and 2nd Temple periods). EXILE AND RETURN: In 70 CE the Roman army destroys the Second Temple (the first was destroyed by the Babylonians about 500 years earlier) and from this point onwards, the majority of Jews live in various communities outside the Land of Israel. For the next 1900 years, the Jews in exile pray 3 times daily to be able to return to their homeland and in 1948 the dream is realized with a majority vote in the United Nations to allow the re-establishment of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel." Brief Summary of Jewish History • Torah.org

Tragically, you don't have the true facts at all. Before Trudeau, Canada was much better off. Far more people could afford to buy a home and afford groceries. Now several million people are depending on food banks. There are thousands of people living in tent cities. Things are totally changed now. The average working person in Canada can not afford to buy a home. It would require almost a whole working person's working years to just save up the down payment. This means if would be very difficult or impossible for the average middle class person to own a home and raise a family in the major cities. The least expensive homes are typically over a million dollars. That means one would need at least $50,000 to make the down payment. Working people don't have that kind of money. In fact they have the reverse. Many have massive credit card debt and can't even make ends meet. This is all under the Trudeau government and getting far worse in the past few years. "Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political career is coming to an end, some of his fans are romanticizing his economic track record. Yet it is indisputable that, under his leadership, the economy sputtered and Canadians, robbed of a decade of growth, were left relatively poorer than their global peers." Adam Zivo: No, Trudeau did not make Canada richer